US warns Nicaragua after Ortega says elections will end

The United States warned that it would not stand by after Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said there would be no more elections in the country, raising fears among critics of a faster move toward one-party rule.

Ortega, a former leftist guerrilla who has been in power for almost two decades, said Sunday that there would not be elections in Nicaragua involving parties put forward "by the Yankees," a reference to the United States.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X that US President Donald Trump and the international community "will not stand by" as what he called the Murillo-Ortega dictatorship deepened repression at home and created instability that threatened US national security. Rubio also said Ortega's pledge to abolish elections showed what he called his fear of the will of Nicaraguan voters.

The comments came as exiled opposition groups had hoped that pressure from the United States and other countries could support a democratic transition in Nicaragua. The Organization of American States condemned Ortega's statement and said "the regime has abandoned democracy."

Rubio has pressed Ortega and his wife, Rosario Murillo, who is co-president, since the repression of anti-government protests in 2018. The United Nations has said more than 300 people were killed in that repression. Washington has already imposed measures against Managua, including visa restrictions on more than 2,350 officials and their families.

Nicaragua is set to hold general elections in 2027 after a constitutional reform extended the presidential term from five to six years. Its most recent elections were held in 2021 after opposition candidates were imprisoned. The ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front won without a serious challenge.

The opposition is now in exile, while the government has concentrated power in the presidency after a 2025 constitutional reform. The government has also stripped dissident leaders of their nationality and assets.

Opposition figures interviewed Tuesday said Ortega's statement showed he feared losing a fair election. Felix Maradiaga, a former presidential contender and former political prisoner now living in the United States, said Ortega was admitting that the opposition had not been neutralized and that public desire for change remained alive.

Juan Sebastian Chamorro, who coordinates an exiled political movement, said Ortega wanted to turn Nicaragua into a one-party country like China, North Korea and Cuba.

Political opponents say Murillo is purging the government and has imprisoned about 200 former allies. Ortega, 80, is described in the source as suffering from lupus and kidney failure. Ortega and Murillo accuse the opposition of betraying the country and trying to carry out a coup.